Live Review: Jessy Lanza, Wilus Bixler

Given how hard it is to pigeonhole Jessy Lanza's music, Wilus Bixler had carte blanche to indulge in pretty much any genre of electronic music he liked as her warm-up act. Shuffling through some chilled to semi-sprightly IDM, taking in some UK post-bass via Scuba, Romare, a soupcon of Shlohmo and Flying Lotus' utterly essential Tea Leaf Dancers, he tapped the laidback, late-on-a-Sunday mood with slick versatility.

In something of a challenge to Perth's 'in bed by ten on a school night' culture, Jessy Lanza and her live percussionist didn't hit the stage until some time after 11pm, possibly delayed by various gremlins that seemed to inspire all manner of hardware prodding while the warm-up music continued. The first third of Lanza's set worked through her dream-pop sensibilities as the likes of Kathy Lee platformed Lanza's exemplary vocals. On record you could be forgiven for thinking all sorts of studio trickery was involved manipulating those breathless angel tones, but live she proved to be the real deal. For what is mostly club-orientated music, it was an uncommonly intimate affair, with a relaxed Lanza looking ultra-casual in leggings, a floral skirt and a nondescript T-shirt. You almost felt like you'd barged in on them rehearsing in their garage. Slowly warming to the crowd, it wasn't until after about four songs that Lanza gambled on a "Hello, Perth. How y'all doing?" The energy got bumped up a notch with the introduction of VV Violence as, flexing her calf muscles, she glided out from behind her synth to carve some shapes on the floorboards with her Converse. The crowd responded in kind, with limbs loosening outwards and shapes being thrown.

The layout of Jack Rabbit Slim's, with the backstage area being a balcony that's fully visible from the main room, made any kind of pretence of not coming back for an encore 100% futile, as the entire crowd could see Lanza and her drummer preparing to return. Lanza could have closed with any number of smoking high-tempo strikes, but Oh No made for an apt and irresistible send-off nonetheless. Given the strength of her writing and the suppleness of her vocal talents, it seems almost inevitable that Lanza will be reaching out to significantly larger audiences sooner rather than later.